Bill Freehan longtime Detroit Tigers cat

Bill Freehan, a skilled a defensive catcher and 11-time All-Star for his hometown , has died at the age of 79. According to the Detroit Free Pre s, .The club announced his death on Thursday and :It's with a heavy heart that all of us with the Detroit Tigers extend our condolences to the friends and family of Bill Freehan. An all-time great Tiger, Julio Teheran Jersey the Olde English 'D' was the only logo he wore over his 15-year Major League career, during which he was named to 11 All-Star teams, won five-straight Gold Glove awards and played a key role on the 1968 World Series Championship team. Off the diamond, Freehan made a positive impact in the southeast Michigan community, including as a player and then coach at the University of Michigan, where he changed the lives of many for the better. Our thoughts are with Bill's wife, Pat, and the entire Freehan family.Willie Horton, one of Freehan's teammates on several Tigers teams, including the 1968 championship team, :Bill Freehan was one of the greatest men I've ever played alongside, or had the pleasure of knowing. I'll always cherish our childhood memories together and our journey from sandlot baseball to Tiger Stadium. His entire Major League career was committed to the Tigers and the city of Detroit, and he was one of the most respected Deion Sanders Jersey and talented members of the organization through some difficult yet important times throughout the 1960s and 70s. You'd be hard-pre sed to find another athlete that had a bigger impact on his community over the course of his life than Bill, who will be sorely mi sed in Detroit and beyond.Born in Detroit in 1941 and educated at the University of Michigan, where he played baseball and football, Freehan signed with the Tigers in 1961. He appeared briefly in the majors that same season and by Orlando Cepeda Jersey 1963 he'd settled in as the Tigers' primary catcher at age 21. He made his first of those 11 All-Star appearances in 1964, and as a 23-year-old in 1965 he won his first of five Gold Glove awards behind the plate.Freehan, though, was no mere "catch and throw" backstop. Acro s parts of 15 big league seasons, Freehan put up a 112 at the plate -- a high level of production by positional standards -- and hit exactly 200 home runs despite playing through the heart of the second deadball era of the 1960s. In 1968, Freehan hit 25 of those home runs while spending almost 1,200 defensive innings at catcher and as a result finished second to teammate Denny McLain in the AL MVP balloting. He also finished third in the vote in 1967 Babe Ruth Jersey .Freehan famously caught Tim McCarver's pop foul to end Game 7 of the 1968 World Series and ensure the Tigers' first title since 1945: For nine consecutive seasons, Freehan caught at least 100 games for the Tigers, which made him one of the most durable catchers in baseball, as well as one of the best of his era. At the time of his retirement, Freehan held the career records for most chances (10,714) and putouts (9,941), and highest fielding percentage for a catcher (.993). In 1982, he fell off the Hall of Fame ballot after only one year.Freehan retired following the 1976 season and years later served as the head baseball coach at his alma mater of Michigan Bob Uecker Jersey . During Freehan's tenure as Michigan coach, future Hall of Famer Derek Jeter but wound up forgoing college to sign with the .